How to Grow and Care for Orchids
Tips, Tricks
Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0mBLv_Y5Ts This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook visits a tropical botanic garden to learn how to care for orchids as houseplants. (See below for a shopping list, tools, and steps.) Click here to SUBSCRIBE to the official This Old House YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=thisoldhouse Shopping List for Growing and Caring for Orchids: - Potted orchid - Tray and pebbles, used to prevent overwatering - Orchid fertilizer - Electric fan, used to provide ventilation - Plastic pot or clay pot with side vents, for repotting the orchid - Growing media (such as sphagnum moss, perlite, coconut husk chips, phalaenopsis, or diatomite) Tools List for Growing and Caring for Orchids: - Hand pruners, used to trim plants Steps for Growing and Caring for Orchids: 1. To prevent overwatering, fill a tray with pebbles, then add enough water to just barely cover the pebbles. 2. Set the potted orchid on top of the pebbles. 3. Another way to water an orchid is to hold the plant over a sink, then soak it until the water drains out the bottom of the pot. Wait until all excess water drains out of the pot. 4. Give an orchid a thorough watering no more than once a week. 5. Add orchid fertilizer the day after watering, once a week. 6. Orchids need ventilation. Use an electric fan to circulate the air and leave plenty of space in between and underneath plants. Don't bunch orchids too closely together. 7. If your orchid produces green foliage but no flowers, gradually move the plant to a brighter spot. However, avoid direct sunlight. 8. Orchids are more likely to bloom when there's only a 10 degree change between daytime and nighttime temperatures. 9. To encourage new blooms, wait until all the old blooms have died back, then count the nodes up from the bottom. Use hand pruners to cut the plant just above fourth node. 10. It's typically best to wait two years before repotting an orchid. 11. A plastic pot is useful because it retains moisture, but most orchids do well in a clay pot with side vents. 12. Orchids grow in growing media (not soil), such as sphagnum moss, perlite, coconut husk chips, phalaenopsis, diatomite, or any mixture of these organic materials. 13. When using sphagnum moss, be sure to first soak the moss in water before filling the pot. Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisOldHouse Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisoldhouse https://twitter.com/asktoh Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/thisoldhouse/ G+: https://plus.google.com/+thisoldhouse/posts Instagram: http://instagram.com/thisoldhouse Tumblr: http://thisoldhouse.tumblr.com/
Comments
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lol who else went crazy when did not dry the crown
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thks you so much,,
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I cringed when I saw the guy pouring over the crown ...
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The best Orchid video I have seen till now! Thank you
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That phalenopsis thats been watered in the video it didn't have healthy roots!!!
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I wish this garden was my garden!!!!
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This is a beautiful and fun plant to grow indoors!
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You should NEVER use water from the tap (faucet). These plants are tropical plants and are sensitive to tap (faucet) water. Always use rain water that you can get from a bucket outside. Store your rainwater and use them for your Orchids. Also after watering, the flowers should be left to drip dry first before putting them back in the pot! The roots should never stay wet as they would become mushy and your plant will die. The roots of the plants need to get some sunlight too, remember these plants grow on trees, so it's better to place them in a see-through pot where there roots can get some sunshine. Never put your orchid in soil, you can buy special orchid wood fillings (bark) that should only be used. You can spray the leaves with rainwater once a week, as the plant also absorbs water from it's leaves in the tropics. Water once every two weeks by just soaking the plant totally in rainwater for 5 minutes in a bucket and then take them out and let the plant and roots dry first. These tips will ensure your orchids look great and the flowers last longer. ; )
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my orchid is growing in soil. should i transplant to something else?
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I didn't know Phals like sphagnum moss. Thought they prefer bark. In fact all mine grow in inorganic media and love it!
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Wow I'm happy and proud to know that lots of phalaenopsis come from my home country Phillippines. I'm so happy to discover your channel very informative my lovely lady you are amazing. Got more than a hundred of phalaenopsis so I have to learn more each day
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Fertilizing the day after it has been watered hasn't been necessary or even good since the invention of synthetic fertilizer. That rule was from about 200 years ago when they threw chicken poop in a bucket for fertilizer. There was no measuring and growers used to burn their roots. An orchid root that has already been saturated can't take up any fertilizer. That is all in the book Florida Orchid Growing by Dr. Martin Motes. As respected by the Florida orchid community as he is and as much of a presence that Martin Motes has at Fairchild, I can't believe that woman hasn't read his book.
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Can you say crown rot !!
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wrong, the PNW has the actual only rainforest in the continental U.S. , check your facts dude.....
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They like it that way
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wow!
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do you still need to water the orchids if you place in top of watered rocks?
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